Transmissions are usually incorporated into the drivetrain of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. A transmission enables a driver of a vehicle to optimize the power of the engine with the forward speed of the vehicle. There are a variety of transmission types such as an automatic transmission, a manual transmission and a semi-automatic transmission; moreover, transmissions are typically categorized by the number of forward gear ratios such as a four-speed transmission, a five-speed transmission and even an eight-speed transmission found in modern passenger vehicles. Typically, even more gear ratios may be found in transmissions serving specialized purposes such as those found in so-called heavy duty trucks. Regardless of the type and category of the transmission, the driver of the vehicle is sometimes required to drive the vehicle in a reverse direction. To achieve a reverse direction, a reverse idler gear assembly is installed into a transmission housing of the transmission.
The reverse idler gear assembly includes a reverse idler shaft with a reverse idler gear rotatably mounted thereon. The reverse idler shaft is relatively short in length. Since the reverse idler shaft must be supported on both ends, challenges may be presented to the design engineer to adequately support the reverse idler gear assembly within the transmission housing.